Main Menu

Secondary Menu

Author Options:

One-handed keyboard mod Answered

I saw this on the MAKE Magazine blog. A programmer (who actually knows how to bend metal :-) ) did a homebrew keyboard modification to allow himself to touchtype single-handedly after some left arm surgery. Using his left thumb, he can hot-swap all of the keys on the left side over to the right and touch type with only his right hand.

Read the whole story, including some guidance on construction, on Daughtrey.

7 Replies

Something to think about for the kids with cerebral palsy that I support. By the time funding for assistive devices comes in, our kids are all grown up-I could try and make one of these and possibly help open a whole new world for some students. Thanks

Yeah, that would be awesome. The creator, in his blog, said that the commercial version he found cost $400 :-( I am repeatedly appalled at just how expensive AT is; of course it's because the volume is low, and the cost is carried by insurance companies, so there's little pressure to set prices at consumer levels.

a co-worker set up two battery operated dome lights, and attached one on each side of a head rest on a wheel chair that a student who is not able to speak or move except for moving his head uses.It didn't affect the comfort of the student. The lights were carefully placed. The worker painted one dome light red, and one green. The total cost was $2.00 when the student pushed green with his head, it meant "yes" red meant "no". It was ingenious, and the student was able to finally communicate with us! The worker was repremanded for installing a device with out the physiotherapist's approval, and the lights were removed. No other device was ever provided by the "experts", and now we must all try and guess what the student is trying to tell us...The worker eventually left the profession out of frustration. He now has his own music studio where he teaches music, and parents wait to get a spot for their children because he is so gifted...

With his arm in a rigid cast, it sounds like he didn't have much choice. Apparently the "half keyboard" is a relatively common system to deal with this kind of acquired disability, although I've never heard of it. It sounds pretty awkward to start with, but I guess you can get good at anything, eh?